The book encompasses a wide range of topics. How can we create musical sounds through computation? How can we represent, organize, and manipulate music compositions through digital means? How can computers perform music with expression and emotion? Can computers listen to music? Understand music? Compose music? These and many related questions are the subject of Computer Music research and practice.
The book explains how musical sounds and musical scores can be represented and manipulated digitally. Fundamentals of sampling theory, music theory, acoustics, perception, and programming provide foundations for practical instruction on using the Nyquist programming language to create music. Readers will learn how to construct software musical instruments, create scores, apply audio effects, and perform audio analyses.